Peter Lee, director of Covered California discusses the states efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act during a town hall meeting at CSULB in Long Beach, CA on Friday, September 6, 2013.
SCOTT VARLEY — LONG BEACH PRESS-TELEGRAM

READ MORE

LONG BEACH >> Peter Lee knows that to some Californians, he may sound as if he is peddling snake oil.

Telling the uninsured they’ll be able to afford medical care while explaining to the insured that their coverage won’t change is like convincing the sick they’ll be cured with the snap of a finger.

But Lee, the executive director of Covered California, says he is confident that in the next few months the perception of the Affordable Care Act will change thanks to the millions of dollars in funding being spent on outreach efforts.

“Starting in October, you’re going to be seeing us on the airwaves,” Lee told a roomful of college students and community members during a town hall meeting in Long Beach earlier this month. “You’re going to be seeing us in the schools and in churches.”

In August, Covered California received a one time federal grant of $80 million to spend on advertising to promote the state’s insurance exchange opening Oct. 1. At least $45 million will be spent running those ads through March, and an additional $35 million from April to December.

Also, four dozen diverse groups from across California, including labor unions, civil rights advocates, medical centers and even the Los Angeles Unified School District, received $37 million in state grants in July to launch education programs promoting the Affordable Care Act.

That means the word will be spread from the pulpits and the pavement, on college campuses and in classrooms, inside community clinics and on television screens, all in an effort to reach the 5.2 million Californians — the most in the nation — who qualify to purchase affordable health care on the marketplace exchange.

Advertisement

It’s a monumental task, Lee admits, especially when it comes to reaching the “Young Invincibles.”

In California, 31 percent of all 18 to 34 year olds are uninsured. But the challenge among state officials has been spreading the word about the federal health law and how the state-run insurance market applies to young adults.

A recent Field Poll found that only a quarter of California voters under 65 said they have heard a lot or something about Covered California,

The poll also found that 18 percent of those voters said they know much about it.

Without the participation of the young, affordable health care for the old and poor loses its balance, officials have said, because the young are healthier, will use medical services less and pay more into the system.

“The most common question I get in these town halls is ‘I’m 21 years old, do I have to buy health insurance?’,” Lee said.

The answer is yes for those who do not receive medical coverage under a parent’s health plan.

For that reason, California State University, Los Angeles received $1.2 million in grant money to educate students across the 23 campuses that make up the California State University system. A good chunk of the 440,000 students enrolled in the CSU system are uninsured.

That means they’ll have to reach out to students such as 23-year-old Champaign Williams, a Cal State Northridge senior who said she didn’t know she had to buy health insurance.

“My health is good as far as I know,” said Williams. “When I get a job, I plan on getting health insurance.”

The medium will vary

Her answer means that Covered California will have to tailor the message to reach the youth on their level, said Dylan Roby, assistant professor of health policy and management and the director of the Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

“The ‘Young Invincibles’ may be more likely to use an app to see premiums and sign up for coverage, while older individuals may value commercials and 1-800 numbers related to open enrollment so that they can ask a customer service agent any questions about coverage, etc.,” Roby said. “Also, a Web presence on Facebook, Web ads, etc., may be important for the younger population they are trying to reach.”

Families who are middle class and lower-income individuals may benefit from a different set of messages, Roby said.

“Pounding the pavement with community volunteers and certified enrollment counselors may be helpful in lower-income populations without access to information, language barriers, or other barriers,” Roby said.

“I think it was a good move to provide grants to organizations that tend to focus on low-income individuals, because those groups may be the most likely to be uninsured and may not know much about the new options available to them, even if it means they are eligible for Medi-Cal and don’t go into the Exchange directly.”

The state also in July received nearly $22 million in Health and Human Services grants that were distributed to 125 community health centers. Those centers hired outreach workers who will try to enroll 576,000 Californians into low-cost health plans by the end of this year.

Outreach workers will be stationed at clinics, libraries and even malls to discuss everything from how to compare prices and plans to understanding the difference between a premium and a deductible.

Long Beach resident Barbara Walker, a former teacher for 16 years, attended the recent town hall meeting in Long Beach and said the information she received was a good start, but she said she prefers face-to-face assistance.

Now a part-time worker, Walker has been uninsured since 2010.

“I know I have to sign up,” she said, “but I don’t know what to do.”

Lee said he hopes more of the uninsured such as Walker will call the Covered California service line to find out if they qualify for government subsidized health care. Of the 5.3 million uninsured in California, about half qualify for the subsidies including, for example, 780,000 residents in Los Angeles County.

Their participation in the Affordable Care Act is vital, Lee added, which is why the state is working to train and certify about 12,000 insurance agents who will be ready to take calls on Oct. 1.

“This is the starting line of an historic moment,” Lee said. “If the Affordable Care Act doesn’t work in California, it won’t work in America.”